Chapter 434: Chapter 434 Inside The Hive II

Liam looked at Mary with a faint crease on his forehead, his voice carrying a hint of disbelief even though he had felt it himself.

“It worked?”

Mary nodded slowly.

“It worked.”

Irina frowned immediately, her confusion clear as she looked between the two of them.

“What worked?” she asked. “You know where who is?”

Mary took a breath before answering. She looked calm now, no longer drained, but there was something heavier behind her eyes.

“When we were inside the hive,” she said carefully, “we used the open window. Not to see the vampires themselves but to search beyond them. Through them. I followed the trail back to the source.”

Irina crossed her arms.

“And?”

“And I saw him,” Mary said. “The ancient one.”

For a moment Irina just stared.

Then she laughed.

At first it was short and sharp, almost reflexive. Then it grew louder as she shook her head and looked away.

“No,” she said. “No way. That has to be a mistake.”

She turned back to Mary, still smiling but her eyes were sharp now.

“He went into slumber a thousand years ago. Every race has looked for him since then. Vampires. Werewolves. Witches. Creatures worse than us. Nobody found him. Not once. Not even the strongest witches.”

She scoffed softly.

“And you expect me to believe that you just stumbled on what even freaks could not find.”

Mary did not react.

She did not raise her voice or defend herself.

Instead she met Irina’s gaze calmly.

“If you believe me or not, I do not care,” she said evenly. “You brought me here to do a job. I did the job.”

The room went quiet.

Irina stopped smiling.

She stepped closer to Mary, studying her face. There was no fear there. No hesitation. No excitement either.

Just certainty.

Irina’s expression shifted slowly, her brows knitting together.

“But how?” she asked. “How did you do something no one else could?”

Mary lifted her hand.

She pointed.

At Liam.

Irina followed the gesture and blinked.

“Him?”

Mary nodded.

“I do not know what kind of freak he is,” she said bluntly. “But the energy inside him is not normal. It is divine. Endless. It does not thin out. It does not resist being taken. It does not burn out.”

Liam raised a hand slightly.

“Hey,” he said. “I am standing right here.”

Mary ignored him.

“That energy pushed me past every seal protecting the location,” she continued. “It tore through old magic that should have been untouchable. Magic older than me. Older than my bloodline.”

Irina slowly turned her head back to Liam.

She stared at him.

Really stared this time.

Not as a curiosity. Not as an outsider. But as something she had clearly underestimated.

“This guy,” she murmured.

They said he was special.

She had heard it more than once. Rumors passed between packs.

But apart from the duel they had the other day which she still considered playful she had never seen him truly act.

Now her eyes shined.

“You did not even look tired,” she said. “After all that.”

Liam shrugged.

“I felt it,” he said. “Just not enough to fall over.”

Mary let out a dry breath.

“A normal human would have died,” she said. “A powerful witch would have collapsed.”

She paused.

“He did not even shake.”

Lana stepped closer to Liam, her hand brushing against his arm as if to confirm he was still solid.

Irina noticed.

“So,” Irina said slowly, “you are telling me that the only reason you found him is because of him.”

Mary nodded.

“Yes.”

Irina looked away again, running a hand through her hair.

“This changes everything,” she muttered.

Liam tilted his head.

“In a good way or a bad way.”

Irina laughed once, low and humorless.

“Both,” she said.

She turned back to Mary.

“Where is he?”

Mary hesitated.

“Not here,” she said. “Not anywhere close. He is buried deep. Somewhere forgotten. Somewhere the world moved on from.”

She closed her eyes briefly.

“But the vampires are feeding the altar. They are preparing. Slowly. Carefully. They do not want to wake him too fast.”

“Because it is dangerous,” Lana said quietly.

Mary opened her eyes.

“Yes.”

Irina clenched her jaw.

“If they succeed,” she said, “everything changes. Packs fall. Cities burn. Balance dies.”

She looked at Liam again.

“And you,” she said. “You are the reason we even know this.”

Liam sighed.

“I was just holding a hand.”

Mary almost smiled.

Irina did not.

Her gaze sharpened, respect and calculation mixing together.

“This war just became real,” she said. “And you are now right in the middle of it.”

Liam met her eyes without flinching.

Irina exhaled slowly.

Her lips curved into something dangerous.

“Then you better be ready,” she said. “Because if you really are what she says you are, everyone will want you. Vampires. Witches. Wolves.”

She paused.

“And some of them will try to kill you before you even get the chance to fight back.”

Liam smiled faintly.

“Let them try.”

Mary stepped back slightly, her fingers already moving in slow deliberate patterns through the air. The room felt heavier the moment she started. Not loud. Not violent. Just dense, like the air itself was pressing inward.

Irina narrowed her eyes.

“What are you doing.”

“Sharing,” Mary said calmly. “You will see what I saw.”

She placed two fingers against her own temple, then lifted her hand and pressed them gently against Irina’s forehead. Irina did not pull away. She trusted Mary enough for that much.

Mary closed her eyes.

“Vel tharos en nai

Keth morian ul sai

Astra ven tal ithrae

Memora sanguis kai

Lux mor tal venor

Shae ithra kai nox”

The air shifted.

Irina gasped softly as her eyes turned completely white.

Liam felt it instantly. A ripple. Not magic like fire or lightning. This was quieter. Deeper. Like being pulled under dark water without resistance.

Irina’s body stiffened.

Then she saw it.

A city.

Or what remained of one.

Broken stone towers half swallowed by darkness. Streets cracked and hollow. Buildings leaning into each other like corpses left to rot. There was no sun. No sky. Just a ceiling of endless black pressing down.

Yet somehow she knew where to go.

She could not explain it. She did not need to. The knowledge was simply there, carved into her thoughts.

Down.

Further.

Beneath the ruins.

She felt it. A presence so old it did not stir. It did not breathe. It waited.

Cold.

Watching.

The weight of it made her chest tighten even though she had no body there.

Then the chanting stopped.

The pressure vanished.

Irina stumbled back half a step as her eyes snapped back to normal. She sucked in a sharp breath and steadied herself against the table beside her.

Liam moved instantly but she lifted a hand to stop him.

“I am fine,” she said. Her voice was rough. “I saw it.”

Mary released her forehead and stepped back.

Before anyone could speak again, smoke wrapped around her feet. Thick and dark. It rose fast, swallowing her body from the ground up.

Lana’s eyes widened.

“Wait what.”

But Mary was already gone.

The smoke collapsed in on itself and vanished, leaving the room silent.

Liam blinked once.

“Well,” he said. “She really likes dramatic exits.”

Irina ignored him.

She straightened slowly, her face pale but focused.

“She showed me where he is.”

Liam turned fully toward her now.

“And.”

Irina met his eyes.

“I know how to get there.”

A slow smile spread across Liam’s face.

“So,” he said, “we hit the heart. Kill the ancient one while he sleeps. End the whole thing at once.”

Irina did not smile back.

Her expression hardened.

“No,” she said. “We do not move yet.”

Liam frowned.

“Why not. We have the location.”

“We do not have the means,” she replied. “The place is layered with magic. Old magic. Traps that would tear us apart before we even reached him.”

She exhaled.

“We need the witches council. Their strongest. Even then we do not know how to kill him.”

Liam crossed his arms.

“He sleeps. Everything dies if you hit it hard enough.”

Irina shook her head.

“From what has been recorded, he is indestructible. No blade. No claw. No weapon made in this world can harm him.”

Lana scratched her head awkwardly.

“So no stake to the heart then.”

Irina chuckled despite herself.

“If only it were that simple.”

Silence fell again.

Not heavy this time. Just thoughtful.

Liam broke it.

“So what do we do while we wait for the witches to finish arguing among themselves.”

Irina looked at him.

Her eyes were sharp now. Alive.

“We take the fight to the vampires.”

Liam tilted his head.

“Go on.”

“We hit them hard,” she continued. “Relentlessly. No time to regroup. No time to feed their altar properly. We cut their numbers. Burn their hideouts. Force them to scatter.”

“That does not stop the awakening,” Lana said softly.

“No,” Irina agreed. “But it delays it. Buys us time. Time the witches need.”

Liam nodded slowly.

“I like it.”

Irina raised an eyebrow.

“You would.”

He smiled.

“I am not great at waiting.”

She studied him for a long moment.

“You heal fast,” she said. “You do not tire easily. And apparently you carry something inside you that breaks old magic.”

She turned fully toward him now.

“You will be on the front lines.”

Liam shrugged.

“Where else would I be.”

Lana opened her mouth.

“No,” she said firmly. “I am not staying behind.”

Irina glanced at her.

“You do not have to.”

Lana’s shoulders eased slightly.

Irina turned back to Liam.

“This will not be clean,” she said. “No speeches. No glory. Just blood and speed.”

Liam’s smile faded.

“Good,” he said. “That is the kind of fight I understand.”

Irina nodded once.

“Then prepare yourself,” she said. “Because from this moment on, there is no hiding. No pretending this is small.”

She looked around the room.

“The war has already started. We are just choosing how loudly we answer.”

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